![]() ![]() Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, AustraliaĪustralia’s greatest tourist attraction suffered the worst bleaching event in human history in 2016, a result of rising sea temperature. A 21-day Falklands, South Georgia & Antarctica itinerary costs £17,800 per person, including flights, booked through Audley Travel (01993 838 450 ). Guests on the luxury expedition ship Hebridean Sky, operated by Polar Latitudes, can take part in citizen science programmes supplying Antarctic data to universities. In the past 30 years, however, glaciers have drastically receded and changes in water temperature have affected the availability of krill, the bedrock of Antarctica’s food chain – so see the region’s wildlife while you still can. Mark Carwardine and wildlife photographer Paul Goldstein offer a 12-day voyage to Svalbard aboard the Akademik Sergey Vavilov, a Russian research vessel equipped to collect data about the marine ecosystem. Cod were also seen on the depth sounder, much further north than the crew had ever seen them before.” “We were in T-shirts at times which was very surprising to us all at 80 degrees north. “Summer sea ice in the Arctic has reduced by 40 per cent in the last 30 years,” says assistant producer Rachel Butler. The Blue Planet II team visited in July to film walrus mothers “hauling out” (ie, leaving the water temporarily) on to sea ice, although warmer temperatures and more open water than usual meant the pinnipeds had to settle for ice bergs calved from glaciers. Walrus on iceĪ gateway to the frozen polar north, this mountainous archipelago on top of the world is the closest we can get to pure wilderness. The mobula rays were bumping into him and with slow light technology we were able to capture the ground-breaking sequence.” Only a handful of vessels have a licence to visit more remote spots in the region, so travel opportunities are rare.Ĭonservationist and cetacean expert Mark Carwardine (01 ) leads a 13-day expedition cruise to Baja California and the Sea of Cortez for £4,595 per person, excluding flights. There are a lot of bull sharks out there, so it’s not for the faint-hearted. Series producer Mark Brownlow says: “Our cameraman, Alfredo Barroso, was filming in complete darkness. Footage of mobula rays creating a bioluminescent trail with their wingbeats was a world first for the Blue Planet II team. The high concentration of wildlife in this body of water, between Mexico’s mainland and the Baja California Peninsula, prompted diving legend Jacques Cousteau to declare it “the world’s aquarium” – and it continues to enthrall. If you want to do your bit, here’s what you should see and where you should go – with tips and anecdotes from the Blue Planet II team. With this in mind, I have matched suitable ecotourism projects with destinations featured in the series, filmed over a four-year period in 39 countries. “We may think we live a long way from the oceans but we don’t. “We have a responsibility, every one of us,” he urges. While executive producer James Honeyborne sees his mission as connecting ordinary people with life beneath the waves, series narrator Sir David Attenborough has another agenda: inspiring us to act now if we want to save our oceans from the devastating effects of plastics and pollution. ![]() The highly-anticipated new series of Blue Planet II, starting on Sunday, will reveal yet more wonders of the underwater world and perhaps entice viewers to take a leap into the deep. We know more about the surface of Mars than we do about life in the depths of our oceans, hence the appeal of wildlife documentaries showcasing a cast of bizarre marine creatures straight out of science fiction. ![]()
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